En annen var Ravel Morrison. Det var Ravel som var den store stjernen. Det var han som briljerte i både semifinale og finale når United vant FA Youth Cup i 2011 (siste gang vi vant turneringen). Han var det største talentet jeg har sett spille for Uniteds ungdomslag. Jeg hadde kjempestore forhåpninger, og var rimelig sikker på at han ville bli dominerende både for United og England de neste 10-12 årene.
Dessverre gikk det ikke slik. Til slutt ga selv Sir Alex Ferguson opp (pga talentet hans gjorde SAF mange unntak fra vanlig prosedyre, og ga han et utall med ekstra sjanser), og han forlot klubben. Har vært en fotballnomade siden, men før eller siden kommer problemene utenfor banen opp igjen, og han må finne seg en ny klubb. Han har oppført seg eksemplarisk på banen.
I stedet for å prøve og oppsummere enda mer selv, linker og siterer jeg et flott innlegg fra en person som går under navnet Mr MUJAC på redcafe. Veldig mye dritt blir postet der, men ser dere noe fra denne mannen: LES DET! Nesten alltid gode inlegg med verdifull informasjon, og da særlig fra akademiet, trenere, spillere, potensielle spillere inn, osv.
Her er det i sin helhet. Jeg har ikke like god informasjon, selvsagt, men alt dette stemmer med det jeg har lest opp gjennom årene, og fra da jeg fulgte Ravel og Uniteds U18-lag for ca 10 år siden.
This has been done a million times and I'm pretty sure there was a previous thread with over 50 pages on this.
So here is my take based on my experience.
1. In terms of pure talent, Ravel Morrison was probably the most talented footballer to come out of our Academy in the last 40 years. Apart from Giggs, no one stood out like he did at that age. He had everything in terms of individual skill, pace, eye for goal and was a great team player. On the pitch he was never a problem for the coaches, teammates or club as a whole. During training he applied himself and kept himself fit. Of that 2011 team he was the standout player.
2. What he had in football nous and skill he severely lacked in emotional intelligence. He had no concept of right or wrong. He came from a fractured home from a young age with some unbelievably horrific situations (seriously). So all this talk about Wythenshawe v somewhere else is irrelevant. He had no structure in his life. So away from the club he basically knocked about with the wrong people and was easily led. As he got into his teenage years it was clear he was a special player and older people in his community (gangs) 'befriended' him and started to manipulate him badly. He was/is incredibly immature with an almost non-existent education.
3. By the time he was 16, 17, 18 he started to have serious problems off the pitch which resulted in the police being involved on numerous occasions and he had a number of court orders against his name. If you search on-line there are loads of details. Witness intimation, assault, carrying weapons.
4. It then started to creep into his behaviour at Carrington and that's when Ferguson and other senior players tried to help. There was a litany of dressing room incidents. He was banned from playing on many occasions until things got sorted. In the end, Ferguson decided he needed to leave.
5. Things started well at West Ham but when the external influences reached him in London he reverted back to his previous behaviour. By then he was living in a huge town with no real friends and nothing to do. From then on he has just drifted from team to team. During trials he impressed managers and coaches due to his talent. But his off the field behaviour becomes unacceptable time after time so he never settles.
6. People can say that 'he threw his career away'. I don't think he even understands what that means. I don't think it's a motivation issue. He probably never had the resilience, mental and emotional capability and environment to help him succeed in the first place.
7. So it's easy to say he wasted his talent...but that makes it sound that he made a logical, rational decision to do whatever he has done. We look at his life from the outside and judge him based on (for the vast majority on here) our values, intelligence and emotional maturity. He never had any of those in the first place. People say he could have/should have made different life choices. I'm not so sure he was intellectually able to do that.
It's a real shame because I would have loved to see him tear up teams in a United shirt for ten years. His talent was unquestionable.
I hope he is able to get help in the right way and when he is clearly too old for football his life doesn't get any worse.